Love Wont Save You
by Veilaa
Summary: What if Anakin had defeated Obi-Wan on Mustafar? With the old Anakin seemingly lost forever, Padmé finds herself struggling to stay afloat in a dark new Empire- an Empire ruled by her possessive husband, Lord Vader. Romance/Angst/Drama
1. Prologue

**Aye everyone! I'm new to the star wars fanfiction community so please reach out to me in a P.M. I'd love to meet fellow fans ^.^ So, this story is all about what would have happened if Anakin won on Mustafar. The story follows Padmé (occasional Anakin POV) and her life as a husband to the new Lord Vader. Expect it to be angsty at times- after all, Anakin is a Sith Lord. I'm always open to ideas for this story so just tell me what you'd like to see happen in the story in a review or P.M. Like I said, new to star wars fanfiction so sorry as this prologue is all over the place (its hard getting into the characters of the characters) but I promise the writing will get better with time :)) Sorry for this awfully long AN, they won't be as long in the future. Ill try to update often, reviews always motivate me to update ;) Enjoy! -Veilaa**

 _Prologue_

The flight to Mustafar was a mental hurricane for Padmé. Obi-Wan's words had rattled her more than she'd expected. A part of her hated herself for even believing for a second what Obi-Wan had told her. She knew her husband better than anyone else in the galaxy...didn't she?

"Anakin would never do such things." Padmé said with certainty aloud in the ship, speaking to herself. _But what if it's true?_ Doubt crept into her mind again.

Padmé felt hot tears fall from her warm brown eyes, rolling down her cheeks. She made no move to wipe them off. Why was she crying? She hated herself for crying. It meant that deep down in her soul, she knew Obi-Wan was right. She hated that she could believe that Anakin had mercilessly slaughtered younglings.

Her Ani. Murdering children.

At this thought Padmé let out a cry of agony, turning into a mess as the flaming planet of Mustafar came into sight. She slumped back in her chair and held her face in her hands.

No, Anakin has not turned to the dark side. She thought of all their lucrative meetings, where he was nothing but her light in a dark world.

She finally wiped her face from the tears and put a hesitant smile on her face. She was getting worked up for nothing. It must be the pregnancy- it made her emotional at times.

Yes that was it. _No its not._ A small voice nagged in her heart again, but she ignored it this time.

Her sleek silver ship landed swiftly and Padmé's eyes scanned the planet surface for signs of her husband. The planet was disgusting, with metal infrastructure and railings in a sea of boiling lava. And there, moving quickly towards her was a tall dark figure.

Padmé's heart skipped a beat. Whenever they met he never ceased to make her feel as if she hadn't seen him in years.

Her eyes connected with his powerful blue ones, and she immediately rushed down the landing platform towards him. The metal island creaked precariously under but she ignored it, keeping her eyes trained on his the entire time.

Anakin rushed to greet her with a concerned expression of love on his face, and Padmé wondered how he had known she had arrived on Mustafar.

"Padmé I saw your ship…" Anakin said as he they reach each other. "I sensed your arrival, are you alright?" He asked with concern clear in his voice.

Strong arms wrapped around her and she buried her face on Anakin's chest, her hands grasping his dark leather tunic.

In his warm embrace, Padmé felt eternal security. Nothing could hurt her, not with her strong husband holding on to her. In his arms, she found that she could almost forget about what Obi-Wan had told her.

Almost.

* * *

Anakin held Padmé close to him. _Does she realize how much I love her and need her?_ he wondered to himself. But with his bliss in having her, safe, in his arms, the all too familiar anger rose out of him. Why had she come when he told her to stay? She could have been hurt. Why wouldn't she just listen to him?

"Oh, Anakin!" Padmé cried, sending him back to reality. His anger evaporates in an instant. All it took was Padme's voice to make him feel human again. Her soft melody could break the feverish anger and hatred that spontaneously rose in him.

"It's all right, you're safe now. What are you doing here?" He asked her gently. Was she injured or in danger? Had she come to him for help?

He panicked for a moment. He looked her over quickly. She looked radiant as ever; her long brown locks were slicked back in low braid, leaving nothing but her beautiful face peering at him. His eyes moved down and dwelled on the little bump on her stomach. _I have to protect you as well, little one._

He looked backed at Padmé's worried face, and knew he had made the right decision in embracing the dark side of the force- inviting it to come dwell inside of him. Letting it fester inside his every fiber until he felt like ripping his skin off and tearing his hair out. But it left him with power.

So much power.

"I was so worried about you," Padmé whispered hoarsely, pushing blond curls out of his face. He flinched momentarily at the contact. It was familiar and foreign at the same time. He wasn't sure how he felt about Padmé's beautiful skin touching his own tainted skin. He remained tense under her touch and Padmé continued, "Obi-Wan told me terrible things."

At her words something snapped inside of him. Obi-Wan? Since when did Obi-Wan go meet and talk with his wife when he himself wasn't there?

An image of Obi-Wan holding Padmé's face and gently kissing her flashed into Anakin's mind. Anakin's blood turned stone cold and he released Padmé, staring at a non existent dot on the shaky metal platform beneath them. _No, you're being ridiculous. Padmé would never betray me. She loves me...right?_

 _But what if she doesn't and its all been a lie?_

"What things?" Anakin finally spat, his dangerously yellow eyes still staring at the ground. He was doing everything in his power to stop himself from reacting to his growing anger. Yet all the anger festering in him gave him a strange feeling.

Power. He felt more powerful and alive than he ever had been before.

The Emperor was right. The foolish Jedi could have unlocked so much power if only they hadn't been afraid of the dark side of the force. But not him. No. Anakin was brave and with his bravery came this unlimited dark power seeping with untapped potential. Anakin felt like he could choke Obi-Wan from galaxies away with a simple thought of his mind.

The thought made his lips curl into a smile.

He restrained himself for the time being though, for his Padmé was speaking again.

"He- he said you have turned to the dark side…that you killed younglings," Padmé gasped out, her brown eyes desperately searching his for answers as she had in years past.

He resisted the urge to chuckle. She wouldn't find any answers in his eyes anymore. Emotions were for the weak, hadn't the Emperor said so?

But then his eyes darkened to a dangerous yellow. Obi-Wan was trying to take Padmé away from him. Obi-Wan was trying to steal the one thing that Anakin still cared about- the one thing he couldn't live without. Obi-Wan was meeting with his wife in secret, whispering lies into her delicate ears about Anakin. He had killed younglings, yes, but hadn't he done so to protect the galaxy from the lies of the Jedi- to protect Padmé and their child? Obi-Wan had told her the ugly and not the good. He growled. How could she not see that all this was to protect her?

The next part of their conversation was a haze for Anakin as he tried to contain the anger and jealousy he was feeling. He swallowed.

All he heard was silence save for his own raspy breaths and his rapid heart beating. Padmé's lips were moving but he heard nothing.

He faintly caught Padmé declaring that Obi-Wan, "…cares about us."

And he snapped again. He felt the hair on his spine and arms rise as the images of Padmé and Obi-Wan together mercilessly flashed through his head once again.

"Us?" He growled menacingly.

Padmé's eyes widened at his tone. Her look, though it brought him pain to see her so afraid of him, made him feel an odd sense of power over Padmé. _Who was the mature and older one now?_

"He knows! He wants to help you!" Padmé tried again, tears streaming down her face. Anakin was angry with himself all over again. Those tears were because of him. Padmé was upset because of him.

But then he directed his anger to Obi-Wan and Padmé. Was she foolish and naïve enough to think that Obi-Wan was the answer to all their problems?

"Is Obi-Wan going to protect you? He cant…he cant help you. He's not strong enough!" he roared at her.

"Anakin, all I want is your love!" Padmé cried out desperately.

Anakin watched her closely, trying to see if she was being truthful or not. Was she lying to him like everyone else? Did she even love him at all?

But Padmé's eyes shone truer than the North Star in an empty sky. She was telling the truth. _What if she's not_ the voice inside him whispered gleefully.

He softened his expression. "Love won't save you, Padmé. Only my new powers can do that."

She looked at him in disbelief. "At what cost? You are a good person. Don't do this."

The rage he had pent up this entire conversation with Padmé suddenly turned to agony. He hadn't wanted to talk to her here, not like this. Not with her already convinced by Obi-Wan that he was the devil. He had wanted to tell Padmé slowly, as he rose to power in the Empire. He would have told her on Naboo, she would have been upset- yes. But he would see her way if only Anakin had been the first one to explain to her of his turn to the Dark Side.

Obi-Wan had ruined his plan. Padmé disobeying his order for her to remain at home had ruined his plan.

He couldn't lose Padmé over this. He wouldn't. He'd lost too many people already.

"I wont lose you the way I lost my mother!" Anakin croaked, hot tears streaming down his conflicted face. "I've become more powerful then any Jedi has ever dreamed of and I've done it for you," He nearly cried.

"To protect you," he finished a bit softer, staring forlornly into Padmé's twinkling brown orbs. He could see the conflicting emotions in them, he could sense her struggle.

Padmé shook her head violently and reached her hands out to caress his head and hair.

"Come away with me. Help me raise our child. Leave everything else behind while we still can," she begged.

Anakin wanted to laugh. How could she not understand that they wouldn't have to live in hiding on some dusty filth planet in the Outer Rim? No, they would be living in a palace, with the entire galaxy bowing to them.

Bowing to her. His beautiful wife, who was born to be much more than a Queen or Senator of Naboo. She was born to be a regal empress.

She was born to be by his side, and only his side.

Forever.

"Don't you see? We don't have to run away anymore. I have brought peace to the Republic. I am more powerful than the Chancellor. I can overthrow him, and together you and I can rule the galaxy. Make things the way we want them to be." Anakin assured her proudly.

* * *

Lava splashed and boiled wildly in the lava lakes surrounding them, a fitting backdrop for her emotions at the moment.

"I don't believe what I'm hearing. Obi-Wan was right. You've changed." Padme heart was shattering in a million sharp shards. Shards that could never be pieced back together. Her deepest fear was coming true. Anakin was…she couldn't even bring herself to think the words.

All she knew was this man, this man wearing the face of Anakin, was not her husband.

For the first time in years, Padmé wanted to get as far away from Anakin as possible. She wanted to get her child away from Anakin.

Padmé looked up and could see that Anakin had visibly bristled at the mention of Obi-Wan's name.

"I don't want to hear any more about Obi-Wan." Anakin roared, grabbing both her arms and pulling her to his chest roughly. "The Jedi turned against me. Don't you turn against me," He finished with a low voice, breaking with emotion. It was the first time in their entire conversation that she heard a glimpse of her Ani escape from the man standing in front of her.

She needed to get out of his arms. She needed to get far aware. The normally warm embrace was anything but that now. She thrashed as he tried to keep her by his chest and finally pushed herself away from him, keeping a safe distance.

Padmé let the tears fall freely from her eyes now. She couldn't pretend to be strong any longer. Her husband was gone, and this unfeeling monster had taken his place.

"I don't know you anymore." She cried, feeling the baby kicking inside her stomach. She stared directly into Anakin's eyes. They were normally a smoldering blue, easy going, and always ready to laugh. Now, his irises were a disgusting pigment- yellow. It made him look inhuman. Don't people say that a person's eyes are the windows into their soul?

She shook her head. She couldn't do this anymore. The baby was kicking even more and she felt like she was going to vomit. She needed to get away. She glanced backwards at her ship, wondering if she could make it in time before Anakin got to her.

"Look at me." Anakin demanded, grabbing her hand and pulling her back to face him.

Sobs wracked Padmé's small body. "Anakin, you're breaking my heart." She cried desperately, scanning his face for any emotion, any signs of her Ani.

His face flickered for a second but quickly switched back to the menacing and cold mask he now wore.

Padmé continued, "I'll never stop loving you, but you are going down a path I can't follow." If only he knew how much it broke her heart to say this. Since she'd met him again for the first time in 10 years, she couldn't even begin to imagine a life without him.

Anakin's nostrils flared and his face twisted into the most menacing face she'd ever seen in her entire life.

A face of pure evil.

"Because of Obi-Wan?" He asked darkly after a moment, as if he'd been thinking this entire time about it.

Padmé couldn't believe her ears. Anakin thought she and Obi-Wan had had an affair behind his back. The notion was so ridiculous she wanted to laugh.

"Because of what you've done…what you plan to do! Stop, stop now. Come back!" Padmé pleaded with tears. "I love you," she professed what her heart knew was true-had always known was true. She hoped that this verbal conformation of her love and commitment for him would bring Anakin back- calm him down at the very least.

He was silent, staring into her eyes with a look she couldn't read.

Gaining a shard of confidence, she reached hesitantly to hold Anakin's head and stare directly into his eyes but he wasn't looking at her.

He was looking at something behind her. Her ship?

"Liar!" Anakin snarled, and his yellow tinted eyes flashed completely yellow this time, with hints of red in them. She gasped, never having seen anything like it before.

And for the first time in her life, Padmé was truly terrified. She had been captured by Count Dooku, General Grievous- you name it. But never had she felt such sheer terror as she did in that moment.

She whirled around to look behind her, to see what Anakin had seen to make his attitude change so suddenly, and saw a horrible sight that made her heart stop.

Obi-Wan was standing on the landing ramp of her ship.

Pain struck in Padmé's heart. He'd followed her. How could she have been so foolish? Was Obi-Wan going to kill her husband? Panic and fear for Anakin's life suddenly filled her mind.

"No!" Padme turned wildly back to Anakin, trying to communicate that she had not known Obi-Wan was there. Didn't he know she would never do something like that?

Suddenly Anakin's voice boomed through what sounded like the entire planet. "You're with him. You've betrayed me! You brought him here to kill me!"

Padmé instinctively began backing up, trying to keep the rage filled man as far from her as possible.

"No! Anakin. I swear…I…" Padme pleaded until a searing pain filled her lungs and throat. She had enough time to see that Anakin was holding his hand out in the air towards her. He was doing this to her.

Anakin Skywalker was choking her through the force.

Padmé tried to cough but couldn't. She was losing air, the pain consuming her entire body. Her eyes were beginning to roll back in her eyes but the shock of what was happening kept them open.

She heard yells and screams of what she assumed were Anakin and Obi-Wan.

"Let her go, Anakin." She heard Obi-Wan say calmly. _Yes please, let me go. Oh, it hurts so much._

"What have you and she been up to?" Anakin demanded menacingly.

 _Nothing, Ani. You know I only love you. Why are you doing this? You broke my heart._

She now knew it was only a matter of time now before she died. She could no longer breathe, and it was only a matter of seconds before she passed out, slipping into death. Her only thoughts were on her baby. Her precious baby. Her future she was supposed to have with Anakin.

All shattered.

She loved him. He loved her. Why couldn't this save them and give them a beautiful future together?

 _Love wont save you._ Anakin's words were echoing now in her head as she realized the scary truth. He was right, he was living proof that his words were right.

Padmé slipped into a blissful nothingness.

 **Thanks for reading! Please be sure to review :DD It would make my entire day and it only takes a few seconds of your day :P Also be sure to fav, follow, etc. I should be updating fairly soon as the next chapter is practically finished.** **Merry Christmas! -Veilaa**


	2. Ruminations

_Chapter I: Ruminations_

Darkness was something Padme had learned to grow accustomed too. Being close with two reckless Jedi, she was often being captured (and subsequently left in unconsciousness) by an enemy. Sometimes Dooku, sometimes Ventress. Often, General Grievous or a small time bounty hunter.

Usually, when she awoke from the darkness, she was in Anakin's arms. He always found a way to save her. No matter how impossible her rescue seemed at the time.

But this darkness was different. She couldn't tell if it was the all too familiar unconscious darkness, or something else. _Am I dead?_

For some reason, that possibility didn't even bother her. Her entire mind felt strange; a throbbing pit of nothingness. She had no will to live, but she couldn't figure out why.

Her semi conscious thoughts were soon gone as she slipped into complete darkness again.

 _Padme could feel the heat of lava around her entire being. It left her feeling suffocated, but she had to get to her Ani. She had to save him. Even though Obi-Wan and Anakin were talking, she knew what was going to happen._

 _Obi-Wan was going to kill him. And she had no idea why. Anakin and Obi-Wan were friends. Why were they fighting, and why was Obi-Wan with Anakin on his mission? Anakin had said he was going alone on the chancellor's orders to Mustafar._

 _She stopped running and started sprinting, feeling her bare feet get cut up on the rocky surface she treaded._

 _But she kept moving- she had to get in front of him. Surely Obi-Wan wouldn't cut him down if she were in front of Anakin. And then she would talk to them, use her trademark diplomacy to get them to stop. For her sake, if it came down to it._

 _She saw Anakin get ready to jump towards Obi-Wan. She always thought Anakin was stronger than Obi-Wan, but somehow Padmé could sense that Anakin was not coming out of this fight a winner._

 _'Please, no!' she tried to cry, but for some reason no sound came from her mouth. Her throat hurt. Why?_

 _She forget her own pain as she watched Anakin leap from his floating platform in the lava to the large rock where Obi-wan was. And as quick as if lightning had cut through his torso, he was on the ground- cut in half._

 _"No." Padme shook her head violently, watching Anakin's blood trickle into the rapidly rising lava._

 _"No. No" She felt a pit in her stomach and her head started spinning. Anakin's pure blue eyes locked unto hers, pleading for her help._

 _"Padmé! Help me! Something has happened to me and I can't control myself anymore," he cried, looking just like the boy she had met on Tatoinne all those years ago._

Padmé woke up with a start. Disoriented, she quickly sat up as her cloudy vision began to focus. She took a few seconds to just breathe in and out-anything to get her heart back to a regular heart rate.

 _So I am alive,_ she thought dully, but her thoughts quickly rushed to her husband's wellbeing. What an awful dream. But at least dreams stayed that way, unreal-right?

She looked up in front of her and saw a large floor to ceiling window, with multiple speeders flying by in the dark purple night. A moving painting.

She smiled a little then quickly winced, finding that it hurt to move her face. Why? _Just like in my dream._

She then directed her vision downward and saw the familiar plum and cream bed sheets that she was tucked under.

She was in her Coruscant apartment.

Padmé rubbed her eyes and ignored the pain she felt in her body. She needed to be alert. What in the world had happened in the past few hours that she had been out? She glanced to her right and saw that Anakin's side of the bed was empty, not even his sheets were pulled out. He's not here.

For some reason, Padmé felt odd every time she thought of Anakin, but she shook her head and credited it to the horrible dream she had just experienced.

What to do? Should she call Anakin? He was most likely just working at the temple still, maybe on a mission. She vaguely remembered Anakin telling her that he was going to Mustafar for the chancellor. She didn't want to sound silly by calling him just because she couldn't remember what happened to her the past few hours, her throat hurt, and she had had a nightmare.

Shaking her head, she quickly slid her legs off the side of the bed and reached to grab her robe when she realized she wasn't in her pajamas. She touched her clothes. They were leather. What on earth…

It was too dark to see, so she turned to head into the bathroom to see her reflection when she noticed something amiss in her peripheral vision. She glanced out her huge window, noticing a change in the speed of the airships. They were noisy. They were frantic, zooming by and knocking into each other. There was no order. She looked in the distance and saw a huge building on fire. It was too dark to make out what the building was, but Padmé had looked out the window to that very spot several times.

The Jedi temple was on fire.

Padmé gasped in horror and drew a hand to her mouth, but was left staggering in pain from trying to gasp. Something was wrong with her esophagus. She hesitantly lifted a finger to her neck and almost fell back in pain. She needed to see her neck

Padmé took one last, long look at the tattered temple and chaotic Coruscant before rushing into her bathroom. She flipped on the lights and gazed in the mirror. Her heart sunk at the sight before her.

She had dark rings under her eyes, her hair was all messy in its pulled back braid, and she was wearing a going out outfit with boots. Odd, but perhaps she had just had a long day and didn't even bother to change before going to sleep?

But what truly horrified her and signaled that something was wrong were the angry marks that circled around her entire neck. Nasty green, purple, and yellow bruises ran along her entire throat. Finger prints. Hands left those marks. Someone had assaulted her, and she couldn't remember a thing from the past few hours. The last thing she remembered was- she couldn't even think clearly enough to remember. A rational explanation came to her. _Perhaps I have amnesia from my attack._

Spooked, she ran to her nightstand and frantically pulled her comlink out of the first glass drawer. She needed Anakin's help. Even just his voice would soothe her. She quickly entered Anakin's extension. No matter how busy, Anakin always found a way to answer her. Even if he answered and was silent- letting her hear that he was in a meeting and couldn't talk- he answered.

After a few seconds of beeping, her comlink turned red. _Denied,_ it reflected to her on the LCD screen. She blinked a few times, trying not to panic. But it was hard not to. She had been strangled, knocked out, possible amnesia, and her husband wasn't answering her calls. Also, Coruscant is in a frenzy and her husband's workplace was on fire.

Padmé leaned against the tiled wall of her bathroom and sunk to the cold, marble floor. _Get a grip on yourself, Senator. I need to think. What do I last remember?_

She used every fiber of her being, along with breathing and meditation techniques that Anakin had taught her, to try to clear her mind and think.

After a few quiet minutes, the memories started slowly rolling in. She almost didn't want them to, once she started remembering.

Anakin had visited her. They were on their balcony. He had told her that the Jedi had turned against the Senate. Jedi were dying left and right. Anakin had chosen to remain loyal to the Chancellor, to the Senate- to her.

Pain ran through Padmé's blood as she recalled their conversation and how worried then she had been about Anakin. And now, he wasn't answering his comlink and she had had that horrifying dream about him dying.

At least that explained the chaos unfolding outside her apartment. She tried not to think of how many of her Jedi friends must be dead. How many of her Senate friends must be dead. She needed to see the Chancellor, ask him about where Anakin was.

She tried to remember more, but she couldn't. And she didn't want to. All she felt was an overwhelming grief that racked her entire body and soul, and she had no idea why. Something terrible had happened, she could feel it.

Padmé began to sob.

* * *

"I assume you were successful in your disposal of Nute Gunray and his separatist associates?" Anakin's new master said in his gravelly voice, looking up to meet Anakin's eyes gleefully.

Anakin gave a nod of his head. "Yes, master." The separatists had been easy enough; it was Anakin's two unexpected visitors that proved to be a challenge.

And all of a sudden, his thoughts were back on her. He clenched his fists to the point where his veins were in danger of popping. He was trying to separate Padmé from his work from now on. He didn't want the Chancellor coming close to her, or her to him. He needed to keep Padmé away from his new work conditions. Yet she persisted to enter his mind every time he breathed.

"What are you thinking of, Lord Vader?" The Emperor inquired, snapping Anakin out of my thoughts.

Anakin smiled. "That we are finally making change in the galaxy," He said, holding his hands behind his back as he paced around his office. "These Clone Wars have gone on for years, resulting in countless deaths and for what? Nothing. But we-we are finally getting things done," He stated with conviction, a smirk pulling at his chiseled face. It was true. The wars had already ceased, with the Separatists eliminated and the Republic under the control of the Chancellor. _Soon every knee will bow to the Chancellor. To me. To Padmé. To my child._

Anakin could sense the wide grin on the Chancellor's face, and it felt good to have a more experienced master in charge- for now- of this new Republic. No, not republic. An Empire.

"It's better this way, the dark side is much more powerful than the light. You just have to be brave enough to embrace it," Anakin said, feeling the power seeping through every cell his my body, a sensation so electrifying that one feels as if they are levitating.

As the Chancellor responded to his words, Anakin moved over to the still broken window to watch the chaotic scene unfolding on Coruscant. People were confused, nobody was enforcing the law, and the lower level dwellers were rioting on the top. He closed his eyes. He could see and sense that most of the rioters were anti Jedi, holding up anti war signs. They were cheering- they knew change had finally come.

Anakin's lips curled up in a smile. And then suddenly he nearly staggered back as he felt a sharp pang in his heart. He'd felt this pang before, but never had it been so strong. The dark side must have enchanted his senses. He knew what the pang in his heart meant. _Padmé. She's…she's already awake?_

Ignoring the Chancellor's ongoing speech, Anakin frantically looked out the cracked window towards his wife's location. She needed him, he could sense her confusion. Being in touch with the dark side allowed him to know what others were feeling from even further distances away. Another reason for how everything he was doing was to help Padmé.

Anakin ran his gloved fingers through his messy golden locks in frustration. The Medical Droid he had taken her to after Mustafar had sworn that Padmé wouldn't wake up for another 3 days. Anakin was planning to be there when she woke up, to hold her hand, hold her in his arms- explain to her how what he did was for the best.

And now his plan was ruined. She was awake, and panicked. How did she wake up after such little time? He smiled sorrowfully at how strong his wife truly was, waking up hours after he had…

He didn't let himself finish the thought. He wasn't going to have a breakdown in front of the chancellor. His emotions were uncontrollable when he thought of what he had done to Padmé.

"Senator Amidala is fine, Vader," the Chancellor's voice took Anakin out of his thoughts.

Anakin clenched his fists. He had let his emotions put this guard down. He was weak. He didn't like how the Chancellor always mentioned his wife as if she were a weak link. He needed to make sure, just to be safe, that Padmé and the Chancellor never crossed paths. He also needed to stop thinking about Padmé around the Chancellor.

"Yes, master."

"There are a few more groups of younglings that they have discovered hiding in the air vents. Go dispose of them," The Chancellor said with a wave of his white wrinkled hands, watching Anakin's face carefully to gauge his reaction.

 _Why can't the clones go do it?_ Anakin felt something like guilt in his heart at the thought of killing more terrified children, but he pushed it away. His emotions were more conflicted- he was fairly certain his face was a deep shade of tense red by now.

His comlink beeped and he saw that it was Padmé. He pressed the decline button, a foreign action that he had never done before. He couldn't answer her, not here with the Chancellor in hearing, not right now with his emotions and anger all over the place. He took a deep breath and remembered why he was doing this. For the galaxy. For her.

Putting that in perspective, he let the dark side flow unhindered through him, and was surprised to feel no emotion at all anymore. The children were just a mission, no more difficult than if the chancellor had told him to go mop the senate floor.

"As you wish, master." He strode out of the Chancellor's office, his leather boots falling firmly on the red rugged floor.

His thoughts turned back to Padmé as he passed by a closet where they had shared many a kiss in between senate sessions.

Anakin would just have to wait till after his new mission to visit her. The damage had been done already, anyways.

* * *

As the last sobs wracked Padmé's body, she finally wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. What was hurting the most was that she felt like she knew something horrible about Anakin but couldn't remember it.

Maybe she didn't want to remember it.

Nonetheless, she picked herself off the marble bathroom floor and made her way to her bed. She looked one last time at the turmoil occurring outside her apartment before changing into her nightgown and climbing into her bed.

The entire room was filled with an ominous mist, the knowledge that something bad was about to be revealed. She refrained from crying again, wanting to just forget it all in the darkness of slumber.

She hoped that when she awoke, Anakin would be sleeping next to her.

Little did she know the new world she would be waking up to.

An Empire.

* * *

 **Well hello guys. I HAVE NOT ABANDONED THIS STORY! I know the first chapter was published in December and right now its April, but that was because of an issue with logging into my account. Thanks to fan fiction for helping me out with that. Rest assured, this story is being continued, and will be a roller coaster of emotions, angst, drama (Lots of Drama :PP) and some heavy romance. There will also be a bit of a plot, not just "Life In Emperor Vander's Palace." Old characters will come up too. Anywho, PLEASE REVIEW. It takes literally no time at all to do it, and I'd love to hear feedback or ideas for future chapters. Even if you don't have an account on fan fiction, you can still leave a review! I know I might sound greedy but reviews really inspire me to keep going. I don't want to just write this story for no one to read- reviews keep me motivated as a I realize at least SOMEONE is reading this- haha! Anywho, PM with any questions, ideas, or general comments.**


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